Opinion

You’re so vain, you probably think this column is about you

Observer Editorial: The Observer endorses Jung-Rezner

Soli Deo Gloria

Your silence thunders

What’s in a fear?

A most meaningful meander

Putting the wonder back in winter

10 ways to calm down—as told by my nine-year-old self

Communion of Saints I disagree with

Observer Editorial: 2023 is for progress, not perfection

Holocaust education in the United States is a disaster. Here’s how to fix it.

2023’s crucial ballot boxes 

As we settle into 2023, American politics has really simmered down to a near standstill. The country just emerged from the most enigmatic midterm cycle in recent history, with voters rebuking President Biden’s administration just enough to flip the balance of the House of Representatives while simultaneously giving the White House symbolic victories like a slightly bluer Senate and scattered victories for abortion protections across the country. As the new year rolls on, nothing exciting seems to be happening in Washington. Beyond the dramatic interlude during Kevin McCarthy’s chaotic election as Speaker of the House, the news have not been all that exciting for those with a keen eye for whatever goes on inside the Beltway. Perusing through the politics sections of the New York Times, Vox, CNN or Fox News rarely leads to interesting reads. For some reason, even stories like President Biden’s handling of classified documents or the impending debt ceiling impasse do not seem to garner the degree of attention and interest for the general public. It is still too early to even dream of 2024’s race for the White House, so it is only natural for everyone to look the other way regarding former President Trump’s quest for another shot at the Oval Office. Americans seem checked out of politics so far this year, and nothing of consequence appears to be coming anytime soon. Where will elections be interesting around the world this year?

Student body campaigning

The campaigning period for the student body president and vice-president election has begun. We are very excited to announce that three tickets were able to secure enough of your signatures to officially become candidates for the student body election. Listed in alphabetical order by last name of the presidential candidate, these tickets are:

Why we need more flex points

Flex points. The time and time again coveted entity. Our lack of them is the number one complaint among students. Why do we have so many meal swipes but hardly any flex points? Why can’t we use a meal swipe at Au Bon Pain?

Feminism needs intersectionality

In the latter nineteenth and early twentieth century, the suffrage movement gained momentum and initiated the first wave of feminism: a global movement that has continued to live on for decades. Feminism continues to fight for women’s equality in order to create a more equal society that does not discriminate on the basis of gender. However, not all women are included in the feminist movement since racist suffragists have excluded the voices of Black women. So while feminism claimed to be a sisterhood between all women, discrimination and exclusion were taking place within the very movement that aims to fight against oppression. How can the feminist movement claim to be for all women when it excludes women of color?  

Defend democracy like a champion today

It’s been two years since we collectively witnessed a failed insurrection and attack on the United States Capitol, and the threats to America’s democracy remain serious. 

Footnote nine Chevron: when SCOTUS comes to South Bend

Well, I was the Doof.

I’m anti the ‘Notre Dame Introduction’ and you should be too

Ah, the Notre Dame introduction — a fabled and frequent campus classic. The four or so questions that are so integral to Welcome Week and Sylly Week are supposed to give our classmates a glimpse into who we are and help connect our names to our faces. 

Blind justice; fangless lion

Pride is a particularly interesting characteristic of our human experience. It is a double-edged sword with an ambivalent effect in our daily occurrences — too much of it will lead to arrogance, too little will lead to inhibition. Yet where does pride come from? It does not emerge purely from the depths of our souls, but rather, is always rooted on something. It need not be material to begin with, but pride is possible solely as a byproduct of comparison. One can be proud of their achievements, possessions or capacities only if they can be compared to someone else’s. “Rich,” “smart,” “strong,” “fast,” “kind,” “good” — all of these adjectives are relative. You are strong exclusively because someone is not; you can only be slow if someone is faster than you. As there cannot be light without darkness, there cannot be good without bad. Call it a property of physics or a linguistic necessity, much of the descriptive terminology we employ simply denotes the difference between things. It is in this difference where pride sparks. 

Ranking the mysteries of the rosary

I’m not a superstitious person, although I do bring a rosary around with me to fight off potential demons. The rosary I carry is a stretch of blue yarn I tied up one week in elementary school religion class. I’d like to imagine that the untainted soul of a more naïve, the world is your oyster Peter is somehow captured in my rosary’s knots.